An unusual number of the 35 migrants were not apprehended immediately. Many were in the desert 3-5 days before being picked up by Border Patrol agents. (Were Tucson Section agents not around because they were off to help in Texas?) Three-fourths crossed near Lukeville.

Juan Lopex-Giron (17-21971M) had a 1st appearance, then re-scheduled for a later court hearing. No explanation, but he may have refused to plead guilty to crossing or accept a plea agreement.

Lawyer Juliana Ore-Giron told Magistrate MacDonald she felt that her client Luis Edgardo Castro-Linares (17-21964M) who is not literate, could not understand MacDonald’s questions and was just answering in the same order he had heard other migrants respond. When MacDonald changed the order of his questions, Castro-Linares did not answer appropriately. (This happens quite frequently, especially after the first set of migrants figure out the correct responses, then the rest of the migrants answer as the first had and the session goes more smoothly.)

MacDonald set a new hearing for Castro-Linares so his lawyer could have more time to ascertain whether he could understand what he was agreeing to.